Kurdish-Iraqi farmer becomes social-media star - in pictures

Azad Muhamad has almost 500,000 Facebook followers

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  Kurdish-Iraqi farmer Azad Muhamad has become a social media star by sharing tips on growing fresh fruit and vegetables in the sun-parched country. All photos: AFP

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  Mr Muhamad, 50, has almost 500,000 Facebook followers and posts weekly videos on topics such as protecting fruit trees and dealing with pests at his farm near Halabja.

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  'They should make you agriculture minister,' one of his fans, Ahmed Hassan, commented on a recent video.

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  Muhamad uses his popular online platform to raise awareness of protecting the environment and the need to support local farmers, in his native Kurdistan and beyond.

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  'Developed-country farmers have government support and harvesting machines,' he said.

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  Iraqi-Kurdish farmer Hamid Ismail Abdulrahman, 47, is also a farmer in Halabja.

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  He said low water levels in wells had affected agricultural development.

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  Mr Abdulrahman said climate change had greatly affected farming throughout the country but 'southern Iraq has the lion's share of this impact, while in the north the effect is less'.

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